Color Contrast
by intrajanelle
Summary: Wally didn't think he would lose her once, he never even considered that he could lose her twice. Spitfire. One-Shot.


_A/N: I don't know why I wrote this... I was bored in Ethics class. Blame Aristotle._

_Wally seems a little OOC in this, but I did that on purpose because I wanted you to see a shell-shocked Wally. He doesn't have time to be upset or angry because he's just too shaken._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, I promise._

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><p><em>Color Contrast<em>

_By JustJanelle_

_"Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what is right?"_

_-Aristotle_

Wally West watched the scene unfold around him with a nostalgic sense of clarity. This had happened to him before.

He remembered it had been snowing then as well, or at least it _had_ snowed because everything had been white. The ground had been white, the air had been white even Artemis' bones as she had disintegrated before his eyes had been white.

That was the only difference. This time Artemis wasn't white, she was red. Her entire uniform was stained a sickly shade of red that was already beginning to mat itself in to her hair. The red in contrast with the white snowflakes that freckled her unmoving façade made him want to throw up.

She lay only a few feet from him and somewhere in the background Superboy was tackling Sportsmaster in to the outer wall of the warehouse. Seconds ago, it seemed like days, Sportsmaster had attempted to shove a katana through Wally's chest when he wasn't paying attention, and Artemis, stupid, stubborn Artemis, had jumped in the way.

Wally barely registered that Robin was falling to his knees beside the archer, screaming at Wally to help him, until Megan whispered in the speedster's mind, "Wally, get _up_."

At this suggestion Wally crawled over to Robin's side, stared down at Artemis and frantically searched her small, pale frame for a pulse.

She was far too still, and the blood that was already drying to her pale white skin made her seem too small and fragile to be _Artemis_. He almost wanted to shake her and demand that she insult him or call him 'Baywatch' or question his intelligence, but the problem was that he could barely breathe as he stared at her limp figure.

"KF, put pressure here," Robin ordered, indicating her stomach, and when Wally didn't move Robin reiterated, "_KF_, pressure, now."

Wally scrambled to place his hands where Rob had designated, stuttering as his finger's touched Artemis' cold, unmoving flesh, "I-Is she…"

"No, she's not dead- Yet." Robin answered, before activating his comm link, "RT we need surgeons in the med bay, stat. Artemis is down. We'll be arriving in 2."

After a brief moment of static Red Tornado responded, "_Understood, awaiting your arrival_."

"How are we supposed to get her to the cave in 2 minutes?" Wally demanded, "We're in _Russia_."

"_We_ aren't," Robin enunciated, "You are."

Wally didn't protest, he simply looked down at the archer, at the lifelessness her body had resumed as her blood continued to flow from her stomach. It spilled from between his fingers as if he were trying to plug a hole in a dam with nothing more than his own two hands.

"But…" Wally eventually said, "Won't that hurt her?"

"Not anymore than she's hurting now," Robin muttered, shooing Wally's finger's from the wound as he finished taping a makeshift bandage across Artemis' stomach, "That's the best I can do for now. Go KF, take her to the cave. We'll wrap things up here."

Wally nodded numbly; hesitantly he reached down and began to lift her in to his arms. As he did so a faint groan echoed from her lips and Wally's eyes widened infinitesimally. She was alive.

He had been so afraid that she wasn't. That he would be carrying a lifeless shell of the girl he once knew across the Pacific for no reason other than blind, irrational, hope, but now that he knew she was alive he was indomitable.

"Hang on, Arty," Wally whispered as he tightened his arms around her and began running, "Hang on."

Suddenly the world was blurring around him, melting in to shades of blues and browns and humble greens. Unfortunately the only color Wally could see was red. He realized that this was only because of the red tint of his goggles but the similarity between the color of his surroundings and Artemis' blood sickened him.

He ran faster.

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><p>Wally awoke to the familiar feeling of being whacked upside the head.<p>

When he looked up he saw Artemis frowning down at the bandage across her stomach, her hand retreating to her side from when she had smacked him.

"Hey-!" Wally began to complain as he rubbed his throbbing skull, but he couldn't keep the smile from his face as he stared at her flushed cheeks. This was the kind of red he enjoyed, the subtle kind that lingered just under Artemis' olive tan.

"Hey, Baywatch," Artemis croaked, pointing to the bandages, "What's with all this?"

Wally was about to answer when he noticed her reach down to rip them off, "No!" he yelled grabbing her wrist, "Those are there for a reason you idiot, don't touch 'em."

Artemis scowled at him for a moment until the expression faded from her face. She was giving him the strangest look as she stared at him and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable under her gaze.

"What is it? Quit looking at me like that," Wally murmured as Artemis reached forward suddenly, her fingers brushing across his forehead and coming away red.

"You're hurt," she said, almost shocked at her own words.

Wally shook his head, staring at the blood that was now crusted on Artemis' fingertips. He hadn't washed up properly yet, he'd only changed out of his uniform, washed his hands and spent the remainder of the night at Artemis' side, waiting for her to awaken and insult him. He hadn't expected that she would find her blood on his forehead, or that it would bother her as much as it did.

"It's not mine." He said simply, watching as she wiped the stuff on to her bed sheet.

White bed sheet.

Red blood.

Wally shivered as he remembered her body lying white and lifeless on the cold red ground.

"Go get me some Oreos, Baywatch," Artemis demanded, "I'm starving and you're expendable."

Wally smirked, half expecting her to say something like that. He decided that he much preferred her snarky and alive than white and lifeless any day.

"Whatever you say, Beautiful."

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><p><em>Please Review :3<em>


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